Sweden’s Avicii Arena reopens after revamp

Sweden’s Avicii Arena reopened last weekend after a year-long closure for an ambitious redevelopment project.

Phase one of the redevelopment, led by ASM Global’s Stockholm Live and the City of Stockholm, was unveiled as Swedish synth-pop group KITE took to the stage for a sold-out show.

With a total investment of approximately $92 million, improvements to the Stockholm arena include brand-new stands and seating, improved food and beverage offerings, enhanced acoustics and a new retractable interior roof.

The seating redesign brings a slightly higher total capacity in the 16,500-capacity arena, including an increased floor capacity.

Elsewhere, the back-of-house redesign includes new rigging capacity, faster event transitions, and adaptable staging enabling more ambitious productions and a wider variety of events. The arena can now transition from hockey to concerts faster than ever.

New premium experiences, including luxury suites, social lounges and party booths, will be introduced soon.

“The crown jewel of all arenas in Sweden has, since its opening 35 years ago, always been Avicii Arena”

“At Legends and ASM Global we take pride in pushing the boundaries for what can be done in an arena,” says Marie Lindqvist, SVP operations at Legends and ASM Global Europe. “The iconic Avicii Arena is a great example of how innovation, engineering and the passion to elevate the customer experience can transform an arena and take it into the future. Together with our long-term partner City of Stockholm, we are investing in the future by making Avicii Arena the best arena of its kind in the Nordics.”

Tobias Ekman, general manager of Avicii Arena, adds: “The crown jewel of all arenas in Sweden has, since its opening 35 years ago, always been Avicii Arena. With its unique design and history, this iconic multi-arena has now been modernised and transformed on all levels to ensure that Avicii Arena continues to be the premier concert and sports venue in the Nordics, attracting even more and larger events for at least another 35 years. This also creates great value for Stockholm, both financially and culturally.”

The venue, which was originally known as Stockholm Globe Arena and previously as Ericsson Globe, opened in 1989.

In 2021, it was renamed Avicii Arena after the late Swedish DJ who took his own life, with ASM declaring the venue a “global symbol for mental illness prevention”.

Other venues run by ASM’s Stockholm Live include Tele2 Arena (40,000-cap.), Hovet (9,000-cap) and Annexet (3,400-cap.).

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